Systems and methods of low power clocking for sleep mode radios

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of low power docking of sleep mode radios are disclosed herein. In an example embodiment, a crystal oscillator is purposefully mistuned to achieve lower power consumption, and then synchronized using a high frequency crystal oscillator. In an alternative embodiment, the input offset voltages of the comparator in an RC oscillator are cancelled, which allows low power operation and high accuracy performance when tuned to the high frequency crystal. A lower power comparator may be used with higher input offset voltages but still achieve higher accuracy. The RC circuit is switched back and forth on opposite phases of the output, cancelling the offset voltage on the inputs of the comparator.

This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/406,849filed Feb. 28, 2012.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to electronics and, moreparticularly, is related to oscillators.

BACKGROUND

An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces arepetitive electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. Theyare widely used in innumerable electronic devices. Common examples ofsignals generated by oscillators include signals broadcast by radio andtelevision transmitters, clock signals that regulate computers andquartz clocks, and the sounds produced by electronic beepers and videogames. The harmonic, or linear, oscillator produces a sinusoidal output.

The basic form of a harmonic oscillator is an electronic amplifierconnected in a positive feedback loop with its output fed back into itsinput through a filter. When the power supply to the amplifier is firstswitched on, the amplifier's output consists only of noise. The noisetravels around the loop and is filtered and re-amplified until itincreasingly resembles a sine wave at a single frequency.

An oscillator circuit which uses an RC network, a combination ofresistors and capacitors, for its frequency selective part is called anRC oscillator. Two configurations are common. One is called a Wienbridge oscillator. In this circuit, two RC circuits are used, one withthe RC components in series and one with the RC components in parallel.The Wien Bridge is often used in audio signal generators because it canbe easily tuned using a two-section variable capacitor or a two sectionvariable potentiometer (which is more easily obtained than a variablecapacitor suitable for generation at low frequencies).

The second common design is called a “Twin-T” oscillator as it uses two“T” RC circuits operated in parallel. One circuit is an R-C-R “T” whichacts as a low-pass filter. The second circuit is a C-R-C “T” whichoperates as a high-pass filter. Together, these circuits form a bridgewhich is tuned at the desired frequency of oscillation. The signal inthe C-R-C branch of the Twin-T filter is advanced, and in the R-C-Rbranch, delayed, so they may cancel one another for frequency f=1/(2πRC)if x=2; if it is connected as a negative feedback to an amplifier, andx>2, the amplifier becomes an oscillator.

In a crystal oscillator, a piezoelectric crystal (commonly quartz) maytake the place of the filter to stabilize the frequency of oscillation.These kinds of oscillators contain quartz crystals that mechanicallyvibrate as resonators, and their vibration determines the oscillationfrequency. Crystals have very high Q-factor and also better temperaturestability than tuned circuits, so crystal oscillators have much betterfrequency stability than RC oscillators. Crystal oscillators arecommonly used to stabilize the frequency of radio transmitters, and togenerate the clock signal in computers. The Pierce oscillator circuit isoften used for crystal oscillators.

In any oscillator circuit, current consumption increases proportional tothe system clock frequency. Therefore, keeping the system clock as lowas possible is critical to reducing power consumption. The clockfrequency is affected by a number of factors and there are heretoforeunaddressed needs with previous low power solutions.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems of lowpower clocking for sleep mode radios. Briefly described, inarchitecture, one example embodiment of the system, among others, can beimplemented as follows: a high frequency, accurate oscillator; and alower power less accurate oscillator enabled during a sleep mode of aradio, the lower power less accurate oscillator (LPLAO) configured to becalibrated using the high frequency accurate oscillator.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be viewed as providingmethods for low power clocking for sleep mode radios. In this regard,one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarizedby the following steps: generating an oscillation frequency with lowaccuracy and low power for use during a sleep mode of at least one of areceiver, a transmitter, and a transceiver; and calibrating theoscillation frequency with a higher accuracy and higher poweroscillator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graph of various sleep mode use-cases.

FIG. 2 is a graph of average calibration power in an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph of load capacitance for an example crystal oscillator.

FIG. 4 is a table of bias current for the example crystal of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5A is a circuit diagram of a prior art RC oscillator.

FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram of a prior art RC oscillator.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of an example embodiment of a system of lowpower clocking of a sleep mode radio.

FIG. 7 illustrates operations according to example embodiments of thepresent work.

FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates a communications apparatus accordingto example embodiments of the present work.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and inwhich example embodiments are shown. Embodiments of the claims may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forthherein are non-limiting examples and are merely examples among otherpossible examples.

Systems and methods of low power clocking for sleep mode radios may beused in a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver that is on for a smallamount of time such that the power profile has a very low duty cycle.Although possibly used in a cell phone, the systems and methodsdisclosed herein may be more applicable in applications such as sensornodes, utility metering, etc. with much longer sleep periods. FIG. 1provides graph 100 of example use-cases showing the percentage of totalpower used in system mode. In streaming use case 105, RX/TX mode 110consumes 90% of the total power, MCU and idle mode 120 consumes 8% ofthe total power, and sleep mode 130 consumes 2% of the total power. Inepisodic use-case 135 with multiple connections per minute, RX/TX mode140 consumes 37% of the total power, MCU and idle mode 150 consumes 3%of the total power, and sleep mode 160 consumes 60% of the total power.In episodic use-case 165 with multiple connections per day, sleep mode170 occurs over 99% of the time, and MCU and idle mode 175 and RX/TXmode 180 are insignificant. The disclosed systems and methods may beused in any application that needs an accurate real time clock forsynchronized communication with an external system or transceiver.Although they could be used in any application, the multiple connectionsper day episodic use case is the most applicable. The disclosed systemsand methods could be applied, as a non-limiting example, to anoscillator clock as well as a real time clock.

In an example embodiment, a sensor node s configured to wake up once aday, for instance, to communicate to a remote point and transfer orreceive data or instructions, for example. Waking up for a second outthe day, for example, may be sufficient. In this example application,the period of wakeup is sufficient to receive the operative data. Whenthe application is in operation mode (as opposed to sleep mode), itconsumes one thousand, ten thousand or one hundred thousand times morepower, for example, than when it is in sleep mode. If the applicationinaccurately tracks time with the oscillator circuit, the applicationmay turn on significantly in advance of when it should have in order toreceive the data or instructions which can greatly increase the averagepower consumption.

The more accurate that the time keeping is, the shorter the period forwaking up to receive or transmit data and to resynchronize the clock. Inoperational mode, the application may consume ten thousand times morepower than when it is keeping track of the time. So when the system isin sleep mode, only keeping track of the time, that power consumption isextremely important because it may account for 99.9% of the time. Whenthe application is not in sleep mode, the power consumption is muchhigher, but the high power consumption is for such a short duration thatthe consumed power is very little compared to the rest of the overallpower consumption. In a long sleep mode application, one of theoverriding factors impacting the total power consumption is the powerthat it draws during the sleep mode. Another important factor is theaccuracy of the clock.

In legacy applications, sleep mode power may be in the range of one tofive microamps, for example. The disclosed systems and methods maydecrease that power dramatically without affecting the accuracy of thetime keeping. In the disclosed systems and methods of low power sleepmode radios, a low power inaccurate clock is used during sleep mode, andthen synchronized with an accurate clock during operational mode.

In an example embodiment, a crystal oscillator is purposefully mistunedto achieve lower power consumption, and then synchronized using a highfrequency crystal oscillator. Comparing the inaccurate low frequencyclock to a highly accurate high frequency clock allows the real timeclock to be generated by digitally adjusting the inaccurate lowfrequency clock by a known amount. In the past, the accuracy versuspower consumption has been a trade off, so the more accurate theoscillator, the more power consumed. In calibrating the lower powerinaccurate clock, there are two different clocks. In an exampleapplication, one clock, the real time clock which keeps track of thetime to initiate a wake up is a 32.768 kilohertz clock, and the otheroscillator, which is used as a reference frequency for a phase lockedloop (PLL) is a megahertz range oscillator. Applications with a receiveror transmitter may implement a PLL. The megahertz range oscillatorexperiences much higher power consumption, but for a brief amount oftime. Since the time is so short, the performance of the oscillator ismore important than the power consumption. For example, a 24 megahertzcrystal oscillator is awakened periodically, used to calibrate the32.768 kilohertz oscillator and then turned back off again. It adds verylittle to total power consumption but it enables an improvement in theaccuracy of the low frequency clock. The 32.768 kilohertz oscillator maybe designed to achieve very low power consumption at the expense ofaccuracy because it will be recalibrated periodically.

In an example embodiment, an external crystal implementation is used forthe low power oscillator. As provided in graph 300 of FIG. 3, theoperating frequency of the crystal oscillator is dependent on the loadcapacitance. The crystal has specified load capacitance to achieveparticular frequencies. When the appropriate load capacitance isapplied, the crystal oscillator produces the specified frequency. Forexample, with the particular crystal of FIG. 3, when the loadcapacitance is seven picofarads at point 340, the output oscillates at32,768 hertz. The power consumption is also approximately proportionalto the load capacitance as provided in FIG. 4. If the load capacitanceis seven picofarads, the supply current is hundreds of nanoamps, forexample. However, if the load capacitance is decreased, the powerconsumption decreases significantly. In an example crystal, if the loadcapacitance is reduced to two picofarads, the supply current decreasesto 30 nanoamps. If, on the other hand, the load capacitance is increasedto twelve picofarads, the supply current increases to 600 nanoamps.

In legacy designs, the capacitance may have been set to the capacitancespecified for the desired frequency, which tunes the crystal frequency.So if it takes two hundred nanoamps to work at seven picofarads, whichis the specified frequency, and the output capacitance is changed to twopicofarads, the supply current decreases by one hundred seventy nanoampsat the expense of being less accurate. However, this is acceptablebecause it will be calibrated with the more accurate oscillator. FIG. 2shows an example of the average calibration power vs. time betweencalibrations. If the low frequency oscillator is recalibrated only onceevery 120 seconds, the average current required to do the calibration isonly eight nanoamps. The low level of output capacitance is limited tothe parasitic capacitance of the output pin, which, in this example, istwo picofarads. The sleep mode current has decreased from two hundrednanoamps to thirty nanoamps plus the eight nanoamps for the calibration,while achieving even better accuracy than could be achieved by using aproperly tuned 32.768 kHz oscillator by calibrating with the twenty-fourmegahertz crystal.

In an alternative embodiment, an RC oscillator is used. Similarly towhat is described in previous paragraphs, an inaccurate low frequency RCoscillator may be calibrated to a high frequency crystal oscillator toachieve a lower average power consumption with improved accuracy. Also,if a low frequency RC oscillator is used, no low frequency externalcrystal is needed. However, accuracy of an RC oscillator is less than acrystal-based oscillator, so the calibration would likely be performedmore frequently. Further improvements to the RC oscillator also arepossible. In prior-art circuits provided in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, thereare two different architectures that are used, and the accuracy and thepower consumption are commensurate. Higher accuracy results in higherpower consumption.

FIG. 7 illustrates operations described above. After the communicationsapplication is executed at 71 in FIG. 7, sleep mode is entered at 72.Then, real time is tracked at 73 and, at each calibration interval (75),the high and low accuracy clocks are compared for real time trackingadjustment (76). The operations at 73, 75 and 76 continue as shown untilsleep mode is exited (74) to execute the communications applicationagain at 71.

FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates a communications apparatusconstructed in accordance with the foregoing descriptions. Theillustrated apparatus includes a communications node having applicationcircuitry that executes the communications application. Also provided inthe node are a high-accuracy oscillator (HAO), a real time unit thattracks real time, and a calibration unit that compares a higherfrequency clock from the HAO to a lower frequency clock from an externalLPLAO, for real time tracking adjustment. The external LPLAO is providedas a crystal oscillator experiencing only the parasitic capacitance ofits coupling to a pin of the communications node. Shown by broken linein FIG. 8 are embodiments wherein the LPLAO (e.g., an RC oscillator)need not be external to the communications node.

FIG. 6 provides an alternative embodiment in which switching or choppingis used to cancel offset voltages in the comparator inputs. A lowerpower comparator may be used with higher input offset voltages but stillachieve higher accuracy using example embodiments of the disclosedsystems and methods of low power clocking for sleep mode radios. The RCcircuit is switched back and forth on opposite phases of the output,cancelling the offset voltage on the inputs of the comparator. In anexample embodiment provided in circuit 600 of FIG. 6, the inputs tocomparator 610 are V1 and V2. Each of the inputs of comparator 610 arealternately switched back and forth between resistor capacitorcombination 690 and capacitor 680 and capacitor 695. Switches 640 and660 close on one phase of the output signal and switches 650 and 670close on the opposite phase of the output signal. When switches 640 and660 are closed, capacitor 680 is connected to the positive input ofcomparator 610 and resistor-capacitor combination 690 is connected tothe negative input of comparator 610. When switches 650 and 670 areclosed, capacitor 695 is connected to the negative input of comparator610 and resistor-capacitor combination 690 is connected to the positiveinput of comparator 610. Any offset voltage that appears on one sideduring one of the periods will appear on the other side in the otherdirection for the other period so that the voltages cancel out. In anexample embodiment, the calibration to an accurate high frequencyoscillator technique and the chopping technique may be implementedtogether to further reduce the power consumption.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, it shouldbe understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can bemade thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A communications apparatus, comprising: a real time unit configured for tracking real time based on a first clock; application circuitry that executes a communications application based on a second clock during an operational mode, said application circuitry configured to enter a sleep mode for a period of real time measured by said real time unit during said sleep mode; a high-accuracy oscillator configured to provide said second clock at a frequency that is higher than a frequency of said first clock; a low-power low-accuracy oscillator (LPLAO) purposely mistuned by lowering a load capacitance of the LPLAO to be less than what is required for the LPLAO to operate at a specified frequency for the first clock; and a calibration unit configured for comparing said first clock with said second clock, and adjusting said tracking in accordance with a digital adjustment amount determined by said comparing.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said comparing occurs at regular intervals.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said real time unit and said application circuitry and said high-accuracy oscillator and said calibration unit are provided in a communications node; and wherein said LPLAO is externally coupled to said communications node.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur during said sleep mode.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said high-accuracy oscillator is active during said sleep mode only at said selected intervals.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 8. A method of operating a communications apparatus, comprising: tracking real time based on a first clock provided by a low-power low-accuracy oscillator (LPLAO) purposely mistuned by lowering a load capacitance of the LPLAO to be less than what is required for the LPLAO to operate at a specified frequency for the first clock to provide said first clock using less power but with less accuracy than if correctly tuned for said specified frequency; during an operational mode, executing a communications application based on a second clock provided by a high-accuracy oscillator at a frequency that is higher than a frequency of said first clock; entering a sleep mode for a period of real time measured by said tracking; comparing said first clock to said second clock; and adjusting said tracking in accordance with a digital adjustment amount determined by said comparing.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur during said sleep mode.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 11. The method of claim 10, including activating the high-accuracy oscillator during said sleep mode only at said selected intervals.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 13. A communications apparatus, comprising: a real time unit configured for tracking real time based on a first clock; application circuitry that executes a communications application based on a second clock during an operational mode, said application circuitry configured to enter a sleep mode for a period of real time measured by said real time unit during said sleep mode; a high-accuracy oscillator configured to provide said second clock at a frequency that is higher than a frequency of said first clock; an oscillator purposely mistuned by lowering a load capacitance of the oscillator to be less than what is required for the oscillator to operate at a specified frequency for the first clock; and a calibration unit configured for comparing said first clock with said second clock, and adjusting said tracking in accordance with a digital adjustment amount determined by said comparing.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said comparing occurs at regular intervals.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said real time unit and said application circuitry and said high-accuracy oscillator and said calibration unit are provided in a communications node, and wherein said oscillator is externally coupled to said communications node.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur during said sleep mode.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said high-accuracy oscillator is active during said sleep mode only at said selected intervals.
 19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 20. A method of operating a communications apparatus, comprising: tracking real time based on a first dock; executing a communications application based on a second clock during an operational mode, said application circuitry configured to enter a sleep mode for a period of real time measured by said real time unit during said sleep mode; providing said second clock at a frequency that is higher than a frequency of said first clock; purposely mistuning an oscillator by lowering a load capacitance of the oscillator to be less than what is required for the oscillator to operate at a specified frequency for the first clock; and comparing said first clock with said second clock, and adjusting said tracking in accordance with a digital adjustment amount determined by said comparing.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur during said sleep mode.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 23. The method of claim 22, including activating the high-accuracy oscillator during said sleep mode only at said selected intervals.
 24. The method of claim 20, wherein said comparing and said adjusting occur at selected intervals.
 25. The method of claim 20, wherein the oscillator is a low-power low-accuracy oscillator (LPLAO). 